Palace welcomes return of Taiwanese tourists

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang welcomed reports that Taiwanese tourists are returning to the country despite a travel advisory issued by Taipei.

“Maybe we can see in the past few weeks that the temperature has considerably lessened with the efforts that we’re taking also to address that particular situation,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over dzRB, referring to the fatal shooting of a suspected Taiwanese poacher off Batanes island last May.

“It’s hard to resist the Philippines…it’s such a beautiful country,” she added.

Taipei issued a “red travel advisory” last month in protest of the shooting incident. The Taiwanese government also implemented measures to discourage Taiwanese travel agencies from arranging tours to the Philippines.

However, Tourism Assistant Secretary Benito Bengzon Jr. reported some movements from Taiwan tourists to the Philippines. He expressed confidence the tourist arrivals from Taipei would “soon normalize.”

Taiwan is the fifth largest tourist market for the Philippines. In 2012, 216,511 Taiwanese tourists visited the Philippines.

The target of 271,696 this year may not be reached due to cancellations as a result of the travel advisory.

Bengzon declined to give an estimate of the revenue loss as a result of the cancellations by Taiwanese tourists and tour groups.

He said the DOT is ready to implement a “recovery plan” to attract Taiwanese tourists. This would involve hosting familiarization tours for Taiwanese travel agents and media and intensify its advertising campaign.

Tourist arrivals continued to pick up in the first four months of the year to 1.65 million, up 10.6 percent from the same period last year.

Tourists from South Korea remain on top of the list, followed by those coming from the US, Japan and China.

Bengzon said the DOT is looking to attract tourists from other markets to help meet its 5.5 million target this year.

The DOT has identified new opportunities in India, Russia, the Middle East, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

India is a growing market, with 45,000 tourists visiting the Philippines so far this year, a 26 percent increase from the previous year, which Bengzon described as “encouraging.”